Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band created by former Midtown bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta in 2006 in New York City, New York. After writing and recording the band’s debut album “While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets,” as a solo project, Saporta enlisted guitarist Ryland Blackinton, bassist Alex Suarez, drummer Nate Novarro, and keytarist Victoria Asher, all of whom provide backing vocals. Take a look below for 26 more fun and interesting facts about Cobra Starship.

1. Cobra Starship was formed in 2005 after Midtown bassist Gave Saporta took a trip to the deserts of Arizona.

2. During this time, Saporta went on a “vision quest”, spending time with Native American tribes and smoking peyote.

3. He began to create his vision for a new band, a melodic style of music heavily influenced by synthpop and hip-hop.

4. Upon returning home, Saporta rented a house in the Catskill Mountains and began writing what would become the band’s debut album, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets.

5. He posted a parody response to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” titled “Hollaback Boy” on Myspace. The song gained Saporta notoriety on the internet and he eventually signed to Decaydance Records, the label of his good friend and Fall Out Boy’s bassist Pete Wentz.

6. Midtown’s management company soon set Saporta up with an opportunity to record a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 Snakes on a Plane.

7. During the recording of While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets, Saporta began recruiting new members to complete the group’s lineup.

8. He first enlisted drummer Nate Novarro, whom he met on tour while Novarro sold merchandise for fellow touring act Hidden in Plain View.

9. After seeing Saporta in Entertainment Weekly, guitarist Ryland Blackinton and bassist Alex Suarez, who lived near each other in Brooklyn, and Alex lived in the same apartment building as Midtown drummer Rob Hitt, emailed Saporta asking to join the group.

10. In October 2006, they supported Thirty Seconds to Mars on their Welcome the Universe Tour.

11. While on the 2007 Honda Civic Tour, the group began writing music together for the first time. The members recorded their individual parts on their laptops in the band’s bus.

12. By the time Cobra Starship entered the studio to work on a new album, much of the material was already written.

13. Recorded in twenty days at Mission Sound Studios in Brooklyn, New York, ¡Viva la Cobra! was released on October 23, 2007.

14. It was produced by Patrick Stump, who was also credited as singing some backup vocals. The album has been described as “11 tracks of unabashed party jams, full of big hooky electropop, super-produced guitar crunch and the occasional T-Pain-style vocoder thrown in for good measure.”

15. Cobra headlined the Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour with guests Metro Station, The Cab, and We The Kings from January to March, 2008.

16. They also played on Warped Tour 2008 and headlined the SassyBack tour, which toured from October 7 through November 30, 2008, with guests Forever the Sickest Kids, Hit the Lights, and Sing It Loud.

17. The album art for the ¡Viva la Cobra! album was used to promote the fourth generation Apple iPod nano in purple.

18. Following the success of Katy Perry‘s “I Kissed a Girl”, Cobra Starship recorded their own cover version, “I Kissed a Boy”, in summer 2008.

19. Cobra Starship also began the Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux tour in the beginning of April, opening for Fall Out Boy, with other bands All Time Low, Metro Station, and Hey Monday.

20. In 2009, the band went to a cabin in Pennsylvania, in an attempt to produce new material. They broadcast live throughout their stay on the live camera feed site Stickam, thus creating the Shelf Kids, the fans of Cobra Starship. After their stay, a new album was announced with a tentative release in the summer.

21. Cobra Starship canceled their 2011 Australian tour to finish up their fourth album, which they have been working on with Ryan Tedder and Kara DioGuardi.

22. The group released Itunes Session – EP on August 23, containing four acoustic songs and an alternative version of “Fold Your Hands Child”.

23. Cobra Starship contributed a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” to the Buddy Holly tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly (2011).

24. On April 19, 2014, after nearly three years of no announcement of new material, Cobra Starship confirmed that they are working on a new single. Their single “Never Been in Love”, featuring Icona Pop, was released on August 25, 2014.

25. On October 21, 2014, both Suarez and Ryland left the band to pursue their own separate careers.

26. On his Beats1 Radio show in November 2015, Saporta announced that he would no longer be performing or putting out new music. He and business associate Mike Carden have announced the formation of a talent management firm, T∆G // The Artist Group, which is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2016. Saporta has explained that now he wants to work behind the scenes and help younger artists see their dreams come true.